Host Steven Davis and guest Elias Papaioannou discuss the resurgence of populism in Europe and the United States over the past fifteen years. They define populism, identify its economic drivers, and consider how democratic institutions moderate and respond to populist pressures. They also consider the implications for economic performance. They wrap up their conversation with some remarks on the outlook for populism and its impact on policies and democratic institutions in the years ahead.
Event
The Hoover Institution Economic Policy Working Group hosted “Money and Power: Historical Lessons for Stablecoins and U.S Dollar Dominance” with Michael D. Bordo, the Duncan Stewart Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
April 23, 2026
Articles
Synthetic control methods hold the promise of identifying a credible counterfactual by closely reproducing pretreatment outcome paths. Their reliability, however, depends in part on how effectively they constrain researchers’ less-visible degrees of freedom. We explore these methods’ sensitivity by constructing 1440 plausibly defensible specifications to estimate the employment effect of California’s $20 fast-food minimum wage. While over 96 percent of the estimated employment effects are negative, the range is vast, illustrating that synthetic control methods are sensitive to specification choice.
October 30, 2026
Articles
Waste, fraud, and abuse of public funds are among the oldest and most persistent issues in American history.
September 16, 2026
